May 19, 2006

ABC Streaming: 3 Million Views

ABC has released the first numbers on the success of their "test" offering of free online streaming of TV episodes. According to this Reuters, viewers have watched the free shows 3 million times in the first two weeks of the test. It's worth noting that the programming offered in the ABC test is limited to some of the more popular programs, so we can start to see the potential demand for a larger library of shows.

Also in the Reuters article is mention from Disney CEO Bob Iger that they're looking to "experiment" with different business models. Hopefully, this means ABC will make good on it's idea to offer ad supported downloads, instead of just streaming. It will be interesting to see this all shake out, but in my mind, ABC is leading the way right now.